Newbie Assistance - Guild Wars Forums

Haru304 · Dec 28, 2013, 07:00 PM // 19:00

I came back to this game after years and I honestly have no idea what to do. I started playing GW2 recently and remembering my old GW account, I felt like it would be cool to complete some of the campaigns for once and get a few points for my Hall Of Monuments as I had all of the games on hand. I didn't really know how to play the game back then and I do not know now.

Normally I wing my way through the campaign while thinking on my feet about what builds would be the best for each situation but I always reach a certain point where I just kept wiped continuously. There are some instances in which my group of terribly built heroes are just nuked to death and me along with them before a spell can be cast.

I have a level twenty necromancer and a level twenty elementalist, I am only interested in playing PvE. I want to finish all of the campaigns and get all of my tapestries in EoTN. I really just can't seem to finish missions after a certain point without continuously corpse running.

When I look to various forums for advice, I normally get linked to meta builds with various skills that I can not obtain because I either do not have a high enough level character with the class who has access to those skills so I can use them for my heroes or they are in another campaign or scattered everywhere in high level zones I just get stomped in.

It feels as if I cannot complete this game without a good build and it feels like I cannot obtain good skills without good builds. I have nobody to play with but henchmen and heroes, most of which are useless because I barely have any skills unlocked for them because I can never get far enough in the game to unlock certain skills.

My necromancer is a N/me and my elementalist has a few secondary professions, none of which have any noteworthy skills. If I had access to more skills then maybe I would have an easier time but I do not know where to find or obtain a lot of skills. I would like a fast and simple way to obtain them all for my heroes and my playable characters.

infoscott · Dec 28, 2013, 08:21 PM // 20:21

A couple words of advice.

1) If you focus on tactics, you won't need metabuilds, just a balance of skils. Think about the rolls that need playing; damage, interrupt, buffing, debuffing, protecting, and healing. You can use the early available skills to fill all these rolls, just perhaps not as efficiently. As you progress through the game and unlock skills, you can tweak and improve builds, and start compressing your skill bars. Whenever you can start substituting Area of Effect skills for their single target counterparts. Then you can practice balling up your foes through agro control and getting greater effect from your skills.

2) Your play style sounds very offensive oriented with the necro and elementalist play styles being the obvious. That's fine if you can overpower your enemies easily, but once the mobs get harder, you'll find either you can't do enough damage or you don't get the opportunity to do so. It sounds like you are mostly lacking interrupts and a way to shield your midline/backline from melee and ranged. A few simple steps you can take here;
a) Make your elementalist a Mesmer secondary and spec into the Inspiration line. There are some nice Core and easily obtainable early Chapter skills that will provide interrupt and energy gain. Don't let the monsters hit you with their best if you can prevent it.
b) Let the necro focus a little more of debuff and pressure. This class is excellent at causing weakness, cracked armor, bleeding, poison, degen, and enchantment stripping. If you can pressure the enemy with condition and hex stacking, you'll keep their healers too busy to keep up.
c) Invest in animates (minions) and summons (spirits) to protect your midline and backline. One good minion bomber hero (Olias/Livia/Master of Whispers) or an elementalist acting as an MM (GoLE + Animate Minions) can give you the blocking you need. A ranger also makes an excellent spirit spammer, so you can load up one of them with Pain, Blindsong, and perhaps Anguish. Because the foes love to attack spirits, that ranger can also take Barbed Trap to slow the enemy melee down.

3) Think about party builds, not just hero and player builds. An excellent combination is Mark of Pain and Barbs (both available early in the campaigns) from the Necro Curses line along with physical damage attackers like warriors, rangers, and minions. This is not skill chaining, this is making sure each party member is contributing to the total party effort.

**cosyfiep** · Dec 28, 2013, 10:03 PM // 22:03

If you dont have many skills unlocked yet, use henchman instead of heroes--they buffed them a few years back so they arent as bad as they had been.

if you want to unlock a bunch of skills...start a few different characters in nightfall--just do the first mission and few quests (the ones before you get to kamadan), this will net you a few more skills for each profession (I do this with my new accounts to get some of my heroes skills).

I know you arent interested in builds--but what kind of skills are you using? It would be better for you to concentrate on of one type of ele (for example fire) than doing lots of things from different lines (for example using mostly fire skills, aura of restoration, and possible an earth ward or on your necro: minions and other death magic skills).

my next question is what heroes/henchies are you bringing along? I always bring 2 monks with (party of 6 and 8 areas) to mitigate damage, I usually stay away from melee heavy (only one warrior/dervish for example).

with a bit of tweaking I think you can be mastering all of the missions and quests! (and having a load more fun as well).

Bristlebane · Dec 28, 2013, 10:08 PM // 22:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haru304

I have a level twenty necromancer and a level twenty elementalist, I am only interested in playing PvE. I want to finish all of the campaigns and get all of my tapestries in EoTN. I really just can't seem to finish missions after a certain point without continuously corpse running.

I'd be happy to help out at some time. Don't worry not gonna play the game for you, but sometimes I enjoy creating new characters. I currently have a few new Factions characters of professions I rarely played before (Me, A) or for a very long time (E).

If you're new to the game I also have a tip you might or might not know about:
Every new account can get 10 free Zaishen Keys (well, 50 Tournament Reward Points which most people trade for ZKeys), which currently sell for around 8k/each to other players. That's about 80k which you can use to help you get started a bit easier, like getting armors and equipment. Especially runes which seem to have skyrocketed in the last 6 months. PM me here or send me a whisper in game and I can show you how, or join you through some missions.
Tomoko Mori

Haru304 · Dec 29, 2013, 04:10 PM // 16:10

Thank you for all of the helpful comments. I have taken some of the advice into consideration. At the moment I am not looking for someone to play with but I will keep the offers in mind for they are a much appreciated alternative. I will go into a little more detail about my current situation.

My most developed character and the one I wish to fill out my HoM with is an elementalist/mesmer. I have unlocked most if not all of the normal abilities from the first campaign and a couple of elite skills. I wish to unlock more tapestries in my hall of monuments so I can earn more points for my GW2 account.

At the moment I remember back from when I used to play, the only build I ever managed to pull off was a meteor shower/elite repeat build with rain of fire to just spam mobs to death quickly. It does not seem to work as well in a hero party since heroes seem terrible at holding aggro.

I have a mixture of different heroes. Not all of them are level twenty yet.

Bristlebane · Dec 29, 2013, 07:23 PM // 19:23

A few hero tips then:

As default, always set heroes to guard if they got any offensive skills, or avoid if they only got ally targeting skills. Aggressive heroes tend to run longer distances and can aggro nearby mobs. For this reason I tend to avoid melee heroes, I rather focus on raw damage, shutdowns, protections and last but not least, heals.

As for leveling up heroes, make sure they're in your party when you accept any quest reward as they also level up that way.

Schmerdro · Dec 30, 2013, 02:05 PM // 14:05

First off, on what mission or quest are you getting stuck? We may be able to give some specific advice to counter those foes.

If you want access to most skills then you need to get to Ember Light Camp for all Core and Prophecies skills, Harvest Temple for all Core and Factions skills, and Gate of Torment for all Core and Nightfall skills. So basically you need to almost complete a campaign before you can access everything it has to offer. The only shortcut is to buy a Skill Unlock Pack so that all of your heroes can access those respective skills, but I would advice against it since you can get all of those without spending any real money.

As for team build, I'll just echo what has already been said:
- use Minions, from your Necro or even from your Elementalist, if you are fighting fleshy enemies (anything that is susceptible to Bleeding, Disease, or Poison)
- use 2 healers in a party of 6 or 8. A healer can be a Monk, Restoration or Communing Ritualist, or even a Necromancer or Elementalist primary with a Monk or Ritualist secondary.
- don't use Warrior, Assassin, or Dervish heroes/henchmen. The AI is terrible with melee builds.
- when you see enemies using enchantments, bring enchantment removal;
- when you see enemies using skills with activation time of 2 seconds or more, bring interrupts;
- in general, try to counter the enemy. There are some team builds that are good against everything but you probably don't have access to them yet.
- last but not least, pay attention to energy management. Heroes are especially bad at this so give them lots of 5 energy skills or lots of energy-gaining skills.

Quote:

the only build I ever managed to pull off was a meteor shower/elite repeat build with rain of fire to just spam mobs to death quickly

As you noted, this build doesn't work anymore. If you don't mind, I have a Fire Ele build with Core / Prophecies skills and 1 Factions skills (easily obtained from Kaineng Center):
Bed of Coals, Rodgort's Invocation, Fireball, Incendiary Bonds, Flare, Fire Attunement, Elemental Attunement (E), Optional Skill.

Use Bed of Coals when you think an enemy is unlikely to move, use Flare only when you are Overcast from casting Incendiary Bonds, and maintain your 2 enchantments at all times. For the optional slot, you may use a resurrection skill, Aura of Restoration (as a cover enchantment), or a Mesmer interrupt. I generally use this build with Mind Blast instead of Ele Attunement but I'm guessing you're not that far in Nightfall yet.

If you have any other specific questions, feel free to ask

Bristlebane · Dec 31, 2013, 03:37 AM // 03:37

Here's some useful elites you could capture early in game:

Stolen Speed; Mesmer; Fast Casting
* Can be captured in Vizunah Square, first mission from Canthan main land.
* Call targets with Ctrl+Space, or Ctrl+Skill, so heroes/hench take advantage of faster cast.
* Abuse that foes cast 100% slower - Bring interrupts, or skills like Overload.
* Also give heroes normally slow casting skills that they can spam at half casting time.
* Since they burn energy faster, make sure they have good energy management. Consider skills like Power Drain.

Elemental Attunement; Elementalist; Energy Storage
* Can be captured early from The Undercity, a short run from Kaineng City. It can be a bit hard to capture, he will ambush you and deal a lot of AoE.
* Good generic elite that works well for both you and heroes no matter what attribute you use.
* If you use with a regular attunement you can spam really expensive heavy damage skills like Rodgort's Invocation or Lightning Hammer.
* Especially good combo with Stolen Speed. For example, you call Stolen Speed and heroes spam Lightning Hammer/Rodgort's Invocation or similar.

Master of Magic; Elementalist; Energy Storage
* Capture from Consulate Docks, early mission in Elona.
* Good generic skill if you're either low level, or wants to use full attributes to other things.
* Especially good with Tactics or Command, allowing you to use a shield for extra armor.
* Also consider Prismatic Insignias, they're are fairly cheap and provide a nice armor boost.
* Your whole build can be rendered useless by enchantment strip, but since recharge is 10 seconds it shouldn't cause too much trouble. Otherwise cover with skills like Aura of Restoration, a good generic skill on many Elementalist bars.

These skills are not the best, but they're easily accessible. It can help you push forward in game easier to cap other elites you find later in game.

Dec 28, 2013, 07:00 PM // 19:00	#1
Haru304 Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Mar 2012	Newbie Assistance I came back to this game after years and I honestly have no idea what to do. I started playing GW2 recently and remembering my old GW account, I felt like it would be cool to complete some of the campaigns for once and get a few points for my Hall Of Monuments as I had all of the games on hand. I didn't really know how to play the game back then and I do not know now. Normally I wing my way through the campaign while thinking on my feet about what builds would be the best for each situation but I always reach a certain point where I just kept wiped continuously. There are some instances in which my group of terribly built heroes are just nuked to death and me along with them before a spell can be cast. I have a level twenty necromancer and a level twenty elementalist, I am only interested in playing PvE. I want to finish all of the campaigns and get all of my tapestries in EoTN. I really just can't seem to finish missions after a certain point without continuously corpse running. When I look to various forums for advice, I normally get linked to meta builds with various skills that I can not obtain because I either do not have a high enough level character with the class who has access to those skills so I can use them for my heroes or they are in another campaign or scattered everywhere in high level zones I just get stomped in. It feels as if I cannot complete this game without a good build and it feels like I cannot obtain good skills without good builds. I have nobody to play with but henchmen and heroes, most of which are useless because I barely have any skills unlocked for them because I can never get far enough in the game to unlock certain skills. My necromancer is a N/me and my elementalist has a few secondary professions, none of which have any noteworthy skills. If I had access to more skills then maybe I would have an easier time but I do not know where to find or obtain a lot of skills. I would like a fast and simple way to obtain them all for my heroes and my playable characters.

Dec 28, 2013, 10:03 PM // 22:03	#3
cosyfiep are we there yet? Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: in a land far far away Guild: guild? I am supposed to have a guild? Profession: Rt/	If you dont have many skills unlocked yet, use henchman instead of heroes--they buffed them a few years back so they arent as bad as they had been. if you want to unlock a bunch of skills...start a few different characters in nightfall--just do the first mission and few quests (the ones before you get to kamadan), this will net you a few more skills for each profession (I do this with my new accounts to get some of my heroes skills). I know you arent interested in builds--but what kind of skills are you using? It would be better for you to concentrate on of one type of ele (for example fire) than doing lots of things from different lines (for example using mostly fire skills, aura of restoration, and possible an earth ward or on your necro: minions and other death magic skills). my next question is what heroes/henchies are you bringing along? I always bring 2 monks with (party of 6 and 8 areas) to mitigate damage, I usually stay away from melee heavy (only one warrior/dervish for example). with a bit of tweaking I think you can be mastering all of the missions and quests! (and having a load more fun as well). __________________ where is the 'all you can eat' cookie bar?

Dec 31, 2013, 03:37 AM // 03:37	#8
Bristlebane Desert Nomad Join Date: Jan 2008 Profession: Mo/	Here's some useful elites you could capture early in game: Stolen Speed; Mesmer; Fast Casting * Can be captured in Vizunah Square, first mission from Canthan main land. * Call targets with Ctrl+Space, or Ctrl+Skill, so heroes/hench take advantage of faster cast. * Abuse that foes cast 100% slower - Bring interrupts, or skills like Overload. * Also give heroes normally slow casting skills that they can spam at half casting time. * Since they burn energy faster, make sure they have good energy management. Consider skills like Power Drain. Elemental Attunement; Elementalist; Energy Storage * Can be captured early from The Undercity, a short run from Kaineng City. It can be a bit hard to capture, he will ambush you and deal a lot of AoE. * Good generic elite that works well for both you and heroes no matter what attribute you use. * If you use with a regular attunement you can spam really expensive heavy damage skills like Rodgort's Invocation or Lightning Hammer. * Especially good combo with Stolen Speed. For example, you call Stolen Speed and heroes spam Lightning Hammer/Rodgort's Invocation or similar. Master of Magic; Elementalist; Energy Storage * Capture from Consulate Docks, early mission in Elona. * Good generic skill if you're either low level, or wants to use full attributes to other things. * Especially good with Tactics or Command, allowing you to use a shield for extra armor. * Also consider Prismatic Insignias, they're are fairly cheap and provide a nice armor boost. * Your whole build can be rendered useless by enchantment strip, but since recharge is 10 seconds it shouldn't cause too much trouble. Otherwise cover with skills like Aura of Restoration, a good generic skill on many Elementalist bars. These skills are not the best, but they're easily accessible. It can help you push forward in game easier to cap other elites you find later in game. Last edited by Bristlebane; Dec 31, 2013 at 03:43 AM // 03:43..

Dec 28, 2013, 08:21 PM // 20:21	#2
infoscott Academy Page Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA Guild: Band of Merry Misfits [Band] Profession: N/	A couple words of advice. 1) If you focus on tactics, you won't need metabuilds, just a balance of skils. Think about the rolls that need playing; damage, interrupt, buffing, debuffing, protecting, and healing. You can use the early available skills to fill all these rolls, just perhaps not as efficiently. As you progress through the game and unlock skills, you can tweak and improve builds, and start compressing your skill bars. Whenever you can start substituting Area of Effect skills for their single target counterparts. Then you can practice balling up your foes through agro control and getting greater effect from your skills. 2) Your play style sounds very offensive oriented with the necro and elementalist play styles being the obvious. That's fine if you can overpower your enemies easily, but once the mobs get harder, you'll find either you can't do enough damage or you don't get the opportunity to do so. It sounds like you are mostly lacking interrupts and a way to shield your midline/backline from melee and ranged. A few simple steps you can take here; a) Make your elementalist a Mesmer secondary and spec into the Inspiration line. There are some nice Core and easily obtainable early Chapter skills that will provide interrupt and energy gain. Don't let the monsters hit you with their best if you can prevent it. b) Let the necro focus a little more of debuff and pressure. This class is excellent at causing weakness, cracked armor, bleeding, poison, degen, and enchantment stripping. If you can pressure the enemy with condition and hex stacking, you'll keep their healers too busy to keep up. c) Invest in animates (minions) and summons (spirits) to protect your midline and backline. One good minion bomber hero (Olias/Livia/Master of Whispers) or an elementalist acting as an MM (GoLE + Animate Minions) can give you the blocking you need. A ranger also makes an excellent spirit spammer, so you can load up one of them with Pain, Blindsong, and perhaps Anguish. Because the foes love to attack spirits, that ranger can also take Barbed Trap to slow the enemy melee down. 3) Think about party builds, not just hero and player builds. An excellent combination is Mark of Pain and Barbs (both available early in the campaigns) from the Necro Curses line along with physical damage attackers like warriors, rangers, and minions. This is not skill chaining, this is making sure each party member is contributing to the total party effort.

Dec 29, 2013, 04:10 PM // 16:10	#5
Haru304 Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Mar 2012	Thank you for all of the helpful comments. I have taken some of the advice into consideration. At the moment I am not looking for someone to play with but I will keep the offers in mind for they are a much appreciated alternative. I will go into a little more detail about my current situation. My most developed character and the one I wish to fill out my HoM with is an elementalist/mesmer. I have unlocked most if not all of the normal abilities from the first campaign and a couple of elite skills. I wish to unlock more tapestries in my hall of monuments so I can earn more points for my GW2 account. At the moment I remember back from when I used to play, the only build I ever managed to pull off was a meteor shower/elite repeat build with rain of fire to just spam mobs to death quickly. It does not seem to work as well in a hero party since heroes seem terrible at holding aggro. I have a mixture of different heroes. Not all of them are level twenty yet.

Dec 29, 2013, 07:23 PM // 19:23	#6
Bristlebane Desert Nomad Join Date: Jan 2008 Profession: Mo/	A few hero tips then: As default, always set heroes to guard if they got any offensive skills, or avoid if they only got ally targeting skills. Aggressive heroes tend to run longer distances and can aggro nearby mobs. For this reason I tend to avoid melee heroes, I rather focus on raw damage, shutdowns, protections and last but not least, heals. As for leveling up heroes, make sure they're in your party when you accept any quest reward as they also level up that way.